TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
The course covers joint design of technology and ecosystem aspects in Open RAN networks. The technologyenablers include open networking, virtualization, HW/SW disaggregation, network intelligence. The course discusses Open RAN concept, architecture, use cases, functions and interfaces. With further network densification and high sophistication of the relation between multiple layers and operators and network elements require network management solution based on Artificial Intelligence (AI). The central point for the standardization of Open RAN is the O-RAN Alliance, but relation to other entities, like TIP (Telecom Infra Project), and 3GPP is also emphasized.
COURSE CONTENT
5G, Open Radio Access Networks, Network Slicing, Virtualization, Radio Resource Management, Network Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Participants with background in either system design, networks design should benefit from participation. The focus is on Open RAN networks and its relation to 5G and participants with general background in networks will be able to follow the course. This includes industry, networks operators, regulators and managers in this field as well as researchers, students and professors in academia.
Introduction to O-RAN
• Mobile systems evolution
• 3GPP, 5G overview and RAN split options
• Virtual RAN vs Open RAN vs O-RAN
• Benefits of O-RAN (openness, intelligence, disaggregation, decoupling of hardware & software)
• O-RAN ecosystem and standardization (roles of O-RAN Alliance, 3GPP, TIP, O-RAN Software Community, ONF)
• O-RAN Alliance specifications and workgroups
• O-RAN timeline and developments around the World (O-RAN virtual exhibition)
O-RAN Architecture
• Overall architecture of O-RAN
• Mapping of logical functions to physical implementations
• Description of O-RAN functions / nodes
o RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and decoupling onto Non-RT RIC & near-RT RIC
o O-RAN central unit (O-CU) and decoupling onto O-CU-CP & O-CU-UP
o O-RAN distributed unit (O-DU)
o O-RAN remote unit (O-RU)
o O-RAN cloud
• Relevant interfaces in O-RAN architecture
o A1 interface
o E2 interface
o O1 interface
o O2 interface
• Service and Management Orchestration (SMO) and OAM architecture
• Open Fronthaul
• Deployment scenarios
• Network Slicing in O-RAN
RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and AI enabled-RAN
• Overview and functional split
• O-RAN control loops
• near-RT RIC, architecture, E2 interface and xApps
• Non-RT RIC, architecture, A1 interface and rApps
• AI/ML workflow
• Implementation options
O-RAN Use Cases
• Overview of use cases and phases
• Use case definition and requirements
o Context-based dynamic handover measurement for V2X
o Flight path based dynamic UAV resource allocation
o Radio resource allocation for UAV applications
o QoE optimization
o Traffic steering
o Massive MIMO beamforming optimization
o RAN sharing
o QoS based resource optimization
o RAN Slice SLA Assurance
o Multi-vendor slices
o Dynamic spectrum sharing
o NSSI Resource allocation optimization
Traffic Steering Use Case Analysis and Simulations
• Traffic Steering (TS) mechanism
• Analysis of TS in O-RAN
• Example xApp implementations for TS use case
• Simulation studies and analysis of the TS scenarios
NOTE: The course contents are subject to minor modifications.
Mr. Dryjanski is a co-author of a text that is a recommended reference. The reference is not required for this course.
Title: “From LTE to LTE-Advanced Pro and 5G”
By M. Rahnema, M. Dryjanski, Artech House 2017 ISBN: 9781630814533